THE IMMUNOPHENOTYPE CHARACTERISTICS AND PROGNOSIS IN ADULT ACUTE MYELOID LEUKEMIA

Objective:To explore the characteristic of immunophenotyping in acute myeloid leukemia(AML).Methods:A panel of monoclonal antibodies (MoAb) and indirect immunofluorescence assay by fluoromicroscope was used to determine the pretherapy immunophenotype of 70 AML patients.Results:Cells from all cases were labeled by at least one of the anti myeloid McAb.The order of myeloid markers expression in AML was as fallows:CD 33 CD 13 CD 15 ,CD 9 was positive,CD 34 and HLA DR were negative in all M 3 patients.The blast cells of 16 patients(30%) expressed antigen CD 34 .The patients with CD 34 positive were no significantly different from the remaining 54 patients with CD 34 negative with respect to age,blood counts and the proportion of blast cells in blood and bone marrow,but their blasts more likely to express HLA DR,CD 38 ,CD 7 and lack the CD 15 .The expression of lymphoid antigens in 70 cases of AML observed at our institution,16 cases(23%) carried lymphoid antigens.CD + 4 6 cases(13.8%),incidence of CD 4 expression in each FAB subtype was as follows:M 2 8.8%,M 4 60%;CD + 7 9 cases(16.9%),M 1 50%,M 2 18%,M 5b 16.7%.The typical characteristic in CD + 4 AML was CD 34 low CD 34 high.Conclusion:Combination between the expression of CD 9 and other markers can provide basis for clinical diagnosis.CD + 34 AML. cases often had FAB M 1 morphologic characteristics and lower complete remission(CR) rate.This result demonstrated that CD 34 positive AML is poorly differentiated.These data collectively indicate that CD + 7 and CD + 4 AML patients showed a poorer prognosis.The cellular and clinical characteristics of CD + 7 are recognized to be a distinct category of AML.